I apologise for the delay in getting this to you. I'm trying so hard to get more balance in my life, but it really isn't easy. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that although medication is a big help, it's not the full solution on it's own. I'm trying to bring a more organised strategy into my life, but anything like that is hard to put into practice. I've tried every organisational tool you can think of before, with no success. I'm hoping that it will be different now that I'm on medication. And organising my time will include allocating time for writing - so I still intend to keep going with this story!
On with the story...
Chapter Sixteen: She's A Star
Emily
I felt a mixture of emotions as I walked into our rehearsal room the morning after our opening night. I felt so happy about how well the show had gone, and was looking forward to talking to everyone about it. I couldn't wait to hear all about the after-show party as well. But mostly, I was looking forward to seeing Naomi. We had spent the most amazing evening together, and I could hardly believe where it had led us.
In truth, I actually didn't quite believe it, and therein lay the not so good emotions. How on earth would Naomi react, the day after? Would she tell me it was a mistake? Or act like nothing even happened? God, I really hoped not, but she could be very unpredictable at times. We had both been drinking. Neither of us had been very drunk but it could still be used as an excuse for what happened. I had acted a little out of character myself, due to alcohol. Without it, I would probably never have made a move on Naomi like that. But she's been driving me crazy, so I had finally decided that if a fuck was all I was going to get, then that would have to do. I was surprised to say the least at what my actions led to. Naomi actually let me in a little way, admitting that she isn't the promiscuous person I thought she was. I just knew that she was telling me the truth. It felt like I had finally chipped away a piece of her armour. I just prayed that she didn't regret her actions this morning.
So it was with some trepidation that I walked into the rehearsal room, and it was a mixture of relief and disappointment I felt, knowing that I was the last to arrive.
"Emilio!" Cook jogged over to give me a big hug, displaying no signs of what was bound to have been a late night. I shot him a grin, but my eyes darted around the room, hunting out the one person that I most wanted to see. Naomi was leaning back against a table at the other side of the room. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of her – she really is a gorgeous woman. I longed to see into those beautiful blue eyes to try and figure out what she was thinking, but she kept them trained steadfastly on the floor. My heartbeat quickened at the sight of that. Was she deliberately avoiding my gaze? "You missed an amazing night!" Said Cook, drawing my reluctant attention back to him. He forgot the unspoken rule that you're supposed to downplay an event when someone wasn't able to go.
"Don't worry about me, I had a great night of my own" I told him. I watched Naomi carefully from the corner of my eye, and felt sure I saw the flicker of a smile at my words.
"We went to this brilliant club" said Katie, as if I hadn't even spoken. She had clearly forgotten that she hadn't kept her promise to pop back and see me during the after show party. Not that I was about to complain about it – I was very glad that Naomi and I hadn't been interrupted! Katie continued to tell the room about her night out. "Everyone recognised us! We didn't have to buy a single drink all night! There were loads of gorgeous guys, and I even pulled one of your lot." She pointed at Naomi, which made her raise her eyes to Katie. She frowned at her.
"My lot?" Katie nodded emphatically.
"Yeah, a lezzer." I bit my lip. The subtle distinction that Naomi wasn't actually a lesbian would probably always be lost on my sister. Katie ignored Naomi's death-glare, and continued her tale.
"This lass was all: 'oh Katie, you never told me you were a headliner!' God, she was all over me!"
"You should've went for it, Katie!" Insisted Cook, laughing. Katie carried on, ignoring the interruption.
"I think she was a bit mental though, 'cause she kept asking me why I never texted her! I told her: 'look Chloe, whatever your fucking name is, my bread's not buttered that way, alright? So get your boobs outta my face, 'cause I wouldn't know what to do with them.'"
At the mention of Chloe, Naomi and I exchanged a panic-stricken look. It seemed that Katie had bumped into the one person in Vegas outside of this room that knows I'm gay. Well, except that she thinks its Katie who's gay. Well, I'm the one she thinks is gay, which I am, but she thinks I'm Katie. Wait, no, she thinks… Hang on, I'm getting confused.
Fortunately, mine and Naomi's sudden alarm didn't register with Katie, who by now was talking about the people in the club that she was interested in. She apparently had no idea why Chloe thought that she knew her, so I breathed a little easier. Naomi went back to looking anywhere but at me.
Eventually, Katie and Cook exhausted their anecdotes about the party. It escaped both of their notice that Naomi and I were sat there in almost total silence while they chatted on over the top of each others voices. When they seemed to have no more to say, Naomi spoke.
"Should we have a look at the reviews, then?" She asked impatiently. Her words immediately gave her the attention of the whole room. We had all agreed beforehand that we wouldn't look at any reviews until we were all together.
"Right, where's the papers then?" Asked Cook. Naomi frowned.
"Shit, I forgot! I thought you were getting them." It seemed uncharacteristic of Naomi to forget something like that, given how anxious she was about the reviews. Cook just chuckled.
"Cookie Monster to the rescue once more! I'll go get them. I'll get us some coffees too." He strolled towards the door, jangling the change in his pockets.
"Katie, maybe you could give him a hand please?" Added Naomi. It seemed like an afterthought, but I noticed how carefully she tried to make it sound nonchalant. Clearly I was about to get a moment alone with her, and my fate would be sealed one way or the other. I held my breath as Katie and Cook left the room. As the door swung shut behind them, Naomi giggled.
"I'm sorry, that wasn't very subtle." She stepped closer and slid her hands around my waist. I gave out a silent sigh of relief, and let myself relax into her arms. I placed my arms around her neck and breathed in her unique scent, revelling in the sensation of being so close to her. "I couldn't stand not touching you" said Naomi, her eyes raking over every inch of my face. A broad grin spread across my lips at her words. "I couldn't even look at you, in case my face gave it all away." I felt a little guilty at my earlier suspicions, but I was so happy to discover that they were needless.
"Don't worry" I answered. "I don't think Katie will guess that anything's going on. She would have to consider the possibility that I'm gay, to do that." Naomi bit her lip and looked set to say more about that. Instead, she must have concluded that we had better things to do with our lips in the small time-frame available. She leaned closer and kissed me softly. It felt perfect, except for the fact that neither one of us could fully relax. I had my ears trained on the door ready for any sign of Cook and Katie's return, and I felt sure that Naomi was doing the same.
Soon they did return, and Naomi and I sprang apart before they walked in. It occurred to me that we were playing a dangerous game, but I didn't really have the power to resist. I knew that I would gladly take any chance I could get to wrap my arms around Naomi. Katie handed round coffees and pastries, oblivious to what she had interrupted. We all settled down in our seats ready to go through the morning papers.
The next few minutes were spent very enjoyably. The reviews could hardly have been more favourable. Each one raved about our show, encouraging the readers to buy tickets as soon as possible. We read particularly quotable sections aloud again and again to each other, and Cook delighted in anything that suggested we were better than Freddie's show. Naomi tutted at how many bad puns there were about her name – most of them declaring the show to be a 'model' of entertainment or some such reference to the supermodel. And Katie delightedly poured over any mention of herself. It was official: the show was a hit, and the final routine in particular had blown everyone away.
"Well, that's one in the eye to Freddie!" Laughed Cook, once we had picked over every review. "He tried to sneak in last night, but my mates were waiting for him" he told me.
"Well, you can bet that he'll try again every time he has a dark night" said Naomi. "And he'll send his spies along as well. We can't keep him out forever." Cook waved his hand dismissively.
"He won't figure anything out, no matter how many times he sees it! He nicked everything he knows from other people!"
"What about JJ?" Asked Naomi. Cook frowned.
"Yeah, he knows a lot about magic. What was it Freddie called him? His magical advisor? Still, I've got faith in our show – they won't figure it out."
Naomi nodded slowly, still a little concerned about the threat that they posed to our secrets. Then with a casual shrug, she changed the subject.
"I think we deserve a day off" she announced, to general noises of agreement. "There's some stuff in the show that I want to tighten up a bit, but nothing urgent. We've all been working so hard lately." The sound of scraping chairs filled the room, but Naomi wasn't finished. "Er, except for the last trick." She flashed me a nervous smile as she spoke. "Emily, I thought you should be a bit quicker getting out of the ropes, so I wondered if you wouldn't mind going through it with me?" I nodded, trying my best to look unaffected at the thought of spending the whole afternoon alone with Naomi. On hearing that it didn't involve them, Cook and Katie were already heading for the door. "Be back in plenty of time for tonight's show" called Naomi to the back of their heads. As the door closed behind them, she turned to face me. "I'm sorry" she said with a shrug. "You're timing was fine, it was the only thing I could think of to be alone with you." Her words set a wonderful little flutter happening in my stomach. The thought that she wants us to be alone together as much as I do had me almost dizzy with delight. I cast a final glance at the door to make sure that we were completely alone, then closed the distance between us. I wrapped my arms around Naomi, loving the fact that I could do that now.
My phone ringing interrupted the moment.
"It's probably Katie" I said as I scrabbled to reach it. Katie had left the room so quickly that she must have forgotten something. I pulled out my phone and stared at the display. It told me that it was Chloe on the phone. Nervously, I answered it.
"Hey Chloe." I tried to sound breezy, but I doubt if I carried it off. I was too busy watching Naomi's frown as I said Chloe's name.
"Katie, what the fuck was that about, last night?" Asked Chloe.
"I er, I'm not out yet, so I had to pretend I didn't know you in public." I felt pleased with myself that it actually sounded plausible.
"But did you have to snog that smarmy magician right in front of me to prove it?"
I shuddered at the idea of Katie getting off with Cook. I thought of him as more like a brother than anything else.
"Look, I'm sorry I er…" Hang on, why am I apologising to her? It's not as if we were dating! Chloe's tone suddenly changed to a more friendly one.
"Well anyway, since I'm in town for a couple of days, why don't we meet up?"
"I can't, I've got…" I hesitated before saying the words 'a girlfriend'. Do I have a girlfriend, I found myself wondering? That seemed to be overstating things somewhat. "I've started seeing someone" I said instead. Nice and neutral. That surely wouldn't cause Naomi to break out in a cold sweat.
"Oh, okay." Chloe did sound genuinely disappointed, although I wondered how much that was to do with the discovery that I'm in a headline Vegas show. We had hardly kept in contact much since our first couple of dates.
"Listen, I've got to go" I told her, anxious to get her off the phone and get back to whatever I had been about to do with Naomi. I hung up, and hastily stuffed my phone back into my bag. When I turned back to face Naomi, she looked deep in thought.
"I'd forgotten about Chloe until Katie mentioned her" she said with an anxious smile.
"We were never anything serious" I reminded her. I slid my arms around Naomi's waist, keen to reassure her. "She lives in L.A., so hopefully she won't bump into Katie again." Naomi nodded, but still looked uncertain. "I'm not interested in her" I insisted, giving Naomi's hips a gentle squeeze. She smiled, and seemed to relax a little. I moved closer and met her lips with mine. After kissing her lips, I kissed along her jaw, making my way towards her ear. "I'm only interested in you" I murmured, before nipping gently at her earlobe. I felt Naomi smile at my words.
"Come on" she breathed. She took my hands with both of hers and led me the short way to her dressing room. After shutting and locking the door – just in case of any interruptions – she sat down on the sofa, dragging me down next to her. The grin on her face made her feelings perfectly plain. I gladly moved closer to her. We kissed softly, neither one of us wanting to push things. We were still finding our way with this new relationship, and had not really defined how slowly we were going to take things. I was happy to let Naomi set the pace.
She did so, deepening the kiss a moment later. I readily met her tongue with mine. It felt amazing to get lost in the moment with her. As one, we sank more comfortably back into the sofa, not once breaking our lips apart. Naomi's hands were on my waist. As we continued our slow but passionate kissing, her fingers traced gently across the soft skin exposed at the bottom of my t-shirt. The action sent little tingles of delight right through me.
Things seemed to settle quite quickly into a kind of routine over the next couple of weeks. We had a performance every night of the week except one. Stepping out onto that stage became easier every time I did it. My nerves grew less and less the more certain I became of what I was doing. During the day, we continued to work on any improvements to the show that were needed. We also continued to work hard at promoting the show. Keeping it in the public consciousness was a never-ending task. Every day, Naomi and Cook spent time talking to their contacts, trying to make sure that our act was always in people's minds. We were a huge hit, but Naomi insisted that we needed to work hard to maintain that status. Katie and I did our best to help as well, but since only one of us was able to be out on any one occasion, our time was more limited.
It did feel very restricting, not being able to go out whenever we wanted. And whenever I did go out, I had to answer to the name 'Katie'. I tried my best to make sure that Katie let me go out at least an equal amount of times to her, but it proved difficult. Katie seemed to feel that since she was the one with the bigger part to play in the show, that somehow gave her more rights to go out whenever she felt like it. But since I was quite often kept company by Naomi when I was staying in, I didn't feel the need to grumble too much about it. It was wonderful just getting to spend time with her. She sought out my company on a regular basis, and we spent many a lovely afternoon together, or evenings after our show finished. We would go to her dressing room, or to one of our hotel rooms, and spend the time chatting and laughing and making out.
Things didn't go further between us, but I was happy with that. Okay, that's not completely true. Just looking at her makes me horny as hell, but I have no intention of rushing her into something that she may regret. She has already let me in further than I ever expected, and that's clearly something new and scary for her. Whatever her reasons are for wanting to go slow, I feel sure that she will confide them to me eventually. Besides, I had never wanted just a one-night-stand with her. I felt happy knowing that whenever we did take things further, it would actually mean something to both of us.
"Em, are you okay?" Katie's concerned voice snapped me out of a very pleasant daydream. We were all ready to start another evening's performance, but my mind had been elsewhere. I had been re-living my most recent kissing session with Naomi. We had spent the whole afternoon together in her dressing room, and had ended up losing track of time and having to dash to get ready for the show. I grinned at my sister.
"Yeah, I'm fine" I told her. She shook her head at me.
"You've been acting odd lately" she informed me. I cast a glance in Naomi's direction and we exchanged a small, flirty smile unseen by Katie. It amazed me yet again that we had managed to keep things so secret. Neither Katie or Cook seemed to have the slightest idea what was going on between us, despite our often less than subtle behaviour around each other. We hadn't really discussed the idea of telling them about us. Until we were sure where things were going, there seemed no point in making everything very uncomfortable for the whole group. I wasn't keen to face that particular conversation with Katie anyway, and Naomi seemed reluctant to raise the matter with Cook.
"Well I'm fine" I assured Katie.
"I spoke to mum earlier" she told me with a grin. "She said we've even been in the papers back home!"
"Really?" Katie nodded.
"Yeah, with us all being British, they did an article about the show! Of course it didn't mention you, or give my actual name - which mum wasn't impressed by - but there was a photo!" Well that was typical of our mother. She was probably pissed off that there was no mention of her own business in the article. I grinned across at Naomi, thinking that she would surely be happy with such publicity. Her reaction was not what I expected. Instead of looking pleased, she bit her lip uncertainly.
"Which paper?" She asked Katie. I felt sure there was a hint of nervousness in her tone. Katie shrugged.
"Dunno, one of the nationals. Apparently, there was a big photo of you and me, and loads about the show. Mum said she'd send us the article."
I watched Naomi carefully, and saw a slight frown cross her face. I was getting used to reading her moods, and could see that she was quite perturbed by this, despite not showing much.
"Is everything okay?" I asked her. Something about that article was bothering her, and I wanted to know what. Was she worried that somehow the British press would find out about me and ruin the show? As soon as I spoke, Naomi's expression changed to a smile.
"Yeah, that's great!" She said with enthusiasm. I smiled back at her, but I wasn't convinced. Katie's next words wiped all other thoughts from my mind though.
"And mum says that her and dad are going to come to Vegas to see the show next month. Isn't that great?"
Fuck.
So there we go. I hope the beginning of the chapter didn't scare anyone. You didn't really think I would have Naomi do a complete U-turn though, did you? I wouldn't do that to you!
Let me know what you think!
